Motherwort

What this is

Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca). The lion-hearted herb, its names declaring both offices at once, the wort of the mother and the lion-tail of the heart. Carried for inner confidence and a steady heart, it gives a lioness's calm, fierce protection wrapped in tenderness.

What it governs

Motherwort answers to Venus and the element of Water, with a second hand from Moon. Its seat in the zodiac is Libra and Cancer, and its day is Friday, when its virtue runs fullest. It strengthens with the full moon. In the old practice its office is plain: A tea for nervous heart-flutters, and for steadying the matriarch before a hard day.

Its properties

In the Galenic reckoning motherwort is cool and dry, and that temperament is the whole key to its work. The part you take is the aerial. Its working colour follows Venus, green and rose; its metal is copper, its stones are emerald, rose quartz, its number 7, and on the Tree of Life it threads up to Netzach. It is gentle, safe to use as the practice describes.

Where else it appears

One figure in many lands: the mother-goddess who is both shelter and strength, Cybele riding her lions, Demeter the protector; the Chinese herb yi mu cao, the plant that benefits mothers, reached for to steady the same heart; the European cordial named the heart's own friend. The deepest guarding is love that is also strong.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

In the Green Kingdom you meet Motherwort on Today's Herb, Angelic Herb, Moon's Companion, Today's Gathering, and Herb of the Hour. When it surfaces it counsels you toward its office: A tea for nervous heart-flutters, and for steadying the matriarch before a hard day. As the Angelic Herb it stands under Anael; read its rising as that intelligence laying a hand on your day, with Venus's love and gentle harmony. As the Moon's Companion it walks with the night, marking a dream, a tide of feeling, or a thing best done by moonlight. As Today's Gathering it marks a plant to take up now, while full moon and the day are with it.

Why it matters

Motherwort steadies the heart. It reminds you that you carry more strength than you feel, and that tenderness and fierceness are the two hands of real care. It asks you to mother yourself as readily as you mother others.

Correspondences

planet

Venus

element

Water

zodiac

Libra, Cancer

number

7

sephirah

Netzach

day

Friday

colour

green, rose

metal

copper

stone

emerald, rose quartz

tarot

The Empress